Christmas Came Early This Year

My husband’s family has the tradition of making “Wish Lists” for Christmas and birthdays. While this tradition guarantees you won’t be returning or re-gifting any of your presents, I have to admit I was a bit put off at first by this tradition. I really like giving gifts that people don’t expect – something they might mention in passing or something they don’t even know exists that will make their life better or just more beautiful.

Well, two years ago, my husband went “off list” and surprised me with what I regard as the best gift he has ever given me, with the exception of my custom made wedding ring. He found me something that I did not know existed that made my life insanely better. He bought me the Vornado® iControl™ Whole Room Heater.

To understand the significance of this gift, you have to understand that I am always cold – not a little cold – I mean freezing cold. I live in Houston, Texas where its 100 degrees 9 months out of the year and you will rarely see me wearing anything less than ¾ sleeve tops and capris. Now my husband is hot all the time. On our honeymoon, we were on a glacier in Canada and my husband was in shorts and a t-shirt, I was in four layers of clothes and was freezing to death.

Well, about 6 months ago, after many hours of continuous use, my beloved heater died on me. I got by ok until the temperatures outside dropped below 70 degrees and I started wearing two pairs of socks around the house. My husband is not a handyman, so when he decided to “fix” my heater, I expressed my fear, “Considering the warnings of death and destruction for just tipping over a heater, I’m thinking heaters really aren’t something you want to cut your DIY teeth on…”

Thank God his attempts failed and he called the company! They asked for the serial number, told us when we bought it, informed us that it was still under warranty and let us know that I would have a brand new one within 4-6 days. Talk about customer service!

So today my new heater arrived and it is Christmas for me! I am now toasty warm and completely satisfied; the rest of my Wish List doesn’t even matter now.

Here’s wishing you get a surprise this Christmas that makes your life better or just more beautiful.

Holiday Market 2011 - BOGO time

Wednesday, November 30^th is the annual NetIQ Holiday Market and not only will I be there, but I will be offering Buy One, Get One 1/2 off.

So if you're in the Galleria area of Houston tomorrow between 11am and 2p, come on by 1233 West Loop South Ste. 810 and do some Christmas shopping. Love to see you!!

Turning Pumpkins in Place Cards

My husband and I offered to host the family Thanksgiving feast at our house this year and I’m well on my way to getting as much done as I can so that I can enjoy the holiday with everyone else.

Since we are having our meal around 1pm, I decided to go with my Pier 1 Antique Rose dinnerware; it’s a bit casual, but has a rustic warm feel to it.

I didn’t want the traditional turkey, cornucopia or harvest centerpieces, so I choose white pumpkins for my place cards and one medium pumpkin for my centerpiece. Simple and fitting with my color scheme; except there are no tiny or medium white pumpkins to be found – real or fake – in any store, any farmer’s market, or anywhere online.

So I found “Realistic Fall Mini Artificial Pumpkins” online; package of 16 for roughly $15.50 (including shipping). Now I had to laugh at the one comment on Amazon where the lady wrote “I would not buy them again because they do not look real.” Seriously? These are 2” foam pumpkins for less than a $1.00 each, did she really except them to look real?

This is where left over paints, grapevine wire, cardstock, a glue gun and a huge desire for white pumpkins turned

This is what I was hoping to find and worth every bit of the effort, especially since I can reuse them at some other family gathering.